The Space Shuttle Columbia was the oldest and the first space-worthy Space
Shuttle in NASA's orbital fleet. Its first mission, STS-1, lasted from April
12 to April 14 in 1981. In addition, Columbia's STS-1 flight and Spacelab, the
orbiter was also the stage for many other remarkable firsts. It named after
the first American ocean vessel to circle the globe and the command module for
the Apollo 11 Moon landing.